


Competition at Blizzard Beach

by MegumitheGreat



Series: Swimmers at Water Parks can be Entertaining! [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Blizzard Beach, Competition at the park, Crack, Disney World & Disneyland, Feel-good, Iwatobi, M/M, One Shot, Samezuka, based on my experiences, one shot series, water parks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7896886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegumitheGreat/pseuds/MegumitheGreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Samezuka and Iwatobi's swim teams have a rare opportunity to go to Orlando and visit some of the water parks.  Today we focus on the antics of our favorite otter and duck!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Competition at Blizzard Beach

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Katekate376](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katekate376/gifts).



> My friend and I have been going to a lot of water parks recently, and it was when we went to Blizzard Beach back in April that she gave me the idea to do this. The story is based on our experience (my first experience ever at a water park) while still trying to keep true to the characters' personalities. (I also did not get time to proof this, so forgive me of any and all mistakes grammatically and conceptually.)

Spring wasn’t the best time to go to a water park, but then again, it wasn’t very often that Nitori and Momotarou had enough time or money to travel to the theme park capital of the world for some normal, non-practice-related fun. Today’s agenda was to experience the magic of Disney. Specifically, they were going to Blizzard Beach—one of two of Disney’s water parks in Florida. Initially the plan was that both Team Iwatobi and Team Samezuka would go to each park together, but after learning about the different parks in the area, it quickly divulged into everyone picking a buddy and going wherever they pleased. In retrospect, it was a slightly better way to save money.

“You’d think that Nagisa would have wanted to come with us to Blizzard Beach,” Momotarou sighed. “He really likes penguins, and you’d think he’d want to see them.”

“Momo-kun, you really don’t understand Hazuki-kun, do you?” Nitori replied.

The two of them were riding to the park from the All-Star Sports Resort in Disney World, and the ride would take a little while since Disney’s popularity typically caused slow-moving traffic jams at any given point of the day. They were already wearing their swimsuits; Nitori had suggested that Momotarou wear something that wasn’t a speedo to a children’s park.

“Why do you say that?” the orange-haired first-year asked.

“Well, Hazuki-kun would rather…death-defying rides,” Nitori replied. There was a sudden look of nausea on his face. “Slides that make you feel like you’re freefalling…”

“Is that why you wanted to go to a Disney one? Are you scared?”

“N-No! I’m…I just wanted to make sure I…”

“You were scared!”

The Disney bus pulled up to the park just a few minutes before the park opened to the public. Momotarou and Nitori got in line to get their ticket. The good thing about this park was that there were non-seasonal days and seasonal days, and the non-seasonal days were a whopping five dollars cheaper. When they set foot into the park and after they had put their belongings into a locker, they were confused on where to start.

“I heard that American parks are a lot more extreme! We should do all the fastest rides first!” Momotarou suggested as he pointed to the one of the tallest rides in the park. “Ooh, look at that one! What’s that one?”

Nitori nervously followed Momotarou’s tanned arm and finger to the ninety-foot-tall slide that was called the Slush Gusher. It served as the start point for several rides, but that slide itself went high than even those.

“ _You_ can go on that one,” he said.

“Okay! But it’s a long way up there. Oh, they even have a ski lift!”

Momotarou grabbed up the silver-haired swimmer’s arm and pulled him to the ski lift. The best thing about getting to the park before everyone else was the lack of lines. They rode up the lift, watching the park from below. The only thing holding them into the seat was a bar that levelled with their stomachs. The seats themselves were pretty slick against their swimsuits, and there was a slight breeze that shook the seat just enough to make Nitori panic that the cable would snap and they would fall into the thin canopy of trees below. As they near the drop-off, they noticed the sheer amount of hair ties that littered the ledge of Mount Gushmore.

From the top, there were about three attractions. They eventually agreed that they would at least start out slow and easy before going on high speed rides. That really left them with only the Teamboat Springs, and it didn’t seem to tickle Nitori’s fancy. The ride seemed tame, but they would have to ride with other people.

“I think you’re making too much of a big deal about this! Let’s go!” Momotarou happily chimed. He pushed his friend and mentor up the ramp leading to the apparent end of the line, and they were two of the first to start the day for the employees.

“Sit against the side and hold onto the straps,” the lifeguard instructed. Another party of two that had come after them joined them and before they knew it, they were on their way down one of the world’s longest group water raft rides.

It was a simply concept of momentum that the more people in the raft meant the more weight, and the more weight in the raft meant the higher speed and momentum. Speed ran in Nitori and Momotarou’s blood, but the former wasn’t exactly a fan of the bumps and pushes on the ride. There was the occasional wash from overhanging trails where water gushed, and the finale was a rush into small delta-like pool at the bottom.

“Well?” The tittering otter looked at his ducky pal with glittering eyes. “What’d you think?”

“So far, that’s my favorite.”

“Good! Where to next?”

“I think there was another ride that started from the same spot.”

In reality, two rides did: Snow Stormers and Toboggan Racers. They were toboggan rides, and while Nitori was actually interested in them, Momotarou was somewhat apprehensive of going face first into a rushing current of water.

“But you’re a swimmer! I can’t believe you so scared!” Nitori teased.

“I’m not scared. I swim backstroke for a reason!” Momotarou whined.

“You swim backstroke because no one else can swim as fast as you.”

“Ah, whatever! Let’s just get it over with.”

Momotarou stiffly walked to the two toboggan rides after they had ridden the ski lift back up to the start point. Both toboggan rides were set up like races, which calmed Momotarou a little by bringing out the competitor’s spirit in him. Nitori asked if it was possible that they went down together on Snow Stormers since it was completed three people at a time. There was no problem with it after some deliberating of what he was trying to say given that his English skills weren’t as good as Rin’s, and the lifeguard on duty told them that it was often that people usually asked to go down with friends.

Nitori and Momotarou got their foam sleds, laying on them with their toes hooked on the small pool that jetted out the water to reduce the friction. On the green light, they used their swimming expertise to push themselves down the winding paths as fast as they could. As Nitori sped down the slopes, he heard the faint chaotic screaming that he could only assume was his friend’s and allowed for a nonchalant smile to appear on his face.

“How was it?” he asked when they met at the bottom and got out of the shallow pool.

“My life flashed before my eyes,” he said. “Let’s do it again later.”

Nitori was shocked that he had already decided he wanted to go on it. No, he had to find a ride that would scare him to death. There was always the body slides, but upon closer inspection, Summit Plummet and Slush Gusher either weren’t open or people weren’t riding on them. It would turn out later that day that the attractions had been closed off for maintenance.

The next ride was back again at the top for Toboggan Racers, which was exactly like Snow Stormers except that there were eight people going at the same time and the slide was a straight run down the slope of Mount Gushmore. Either boy was now in it to win against the other; there could only be one victor! The one true underclassman swimmer that would be the water park pride of Samezuka Academy!

The lines were starting to get long by the early afternoon, but since this attraction—like Teamboat Springs—serviced a large number of people in comparison to the other attractions, it wasn’t so bad. While in line, Momotarou and Nitori stretched as if preparing to race in the Nationals against Iwatobi, knowing full well that they looked absolutely ridiculous. But no matter how many people covered their children’s eyes or recorded them on their phones, their idiocy was inspiring if not awe-inspiring. Even the employees were somewhat puzzled about the intensity of their attitude. They were put in the farthest two lanes to the right while six other people filled the other lanes.

When the light turned green, Momotarou and Nitori took off, leaving the other people in the dust. They were of decent weights for their size, which didn’t give them the acceleration down the slope as they hoped, but Momotarou did inch ahead with his four extra pounds thanks to his height. Both tried to tuck in as much as they could and streamline their bodies to reduce the air and water resistance. In the end, the otter-motif swimmer went farther by about six inches, unofficially being the victor between the two of them, and the sixth place winner of the race in general.

Of course, both were dissatisfied with Momotarou egging that he had come first between them and Nitori commenting that there were too many factors that was interfering with the race.It would be settled at the ultimate racing ride that wasn’t actually a race—the Downhill Double Dipper.

This ride had the capacity of sending two single rides are the same time. Thankfully this one only allowed two people to go at a time if they were single riders. There would be no streamlining, no calculation or physics based on size and weight. The inner tube they had to use for both speed and safety would balance out. The lifeguards sent them on their way, starting the time as soon as they pushed off. The slides were again straight down, maximizing on their speeds, and when they glided out the bottom of the slides across the top of the pools, the clock stopped. Both said 27 seconds with fractions in discrepancy and Nitori was ever-so-slightly faster.

“I demand a rematch!” Momotarou pouted. They got out of the pool and handed the tubes to the newcomers to the line.

“Momo-kun, maybe….maybe we’re being silly. We’re supposed to have fun on vacation, not competing with each other and ruining other people’s day here,” Nitori dejectedly told him.

“Huh? I thought we were having fun! And I don’t think we’ve ruined anyone’s day! Do you want to try some regular rides? We’ve still got a couple hours here before they close.”

“So you’re not upset?”

“Nope! Not at all! Let’s go! We still have Runoff Rapids, and it looks like Slush Gusher is open!”

“And we have to go into the Cross Country Creek.”

Momotarou and Nitori walked around to the ski lift, waited in line, and rode it to the top again where they did verify that Slush Gusher was open now. It would be the pièce de résistance before the lazy river. For now, Runoff Rapids was a two-rider tube ride, and for the sake of not getting carried away in their competitiveness, they opted to ride together down one of the three tube slides. Again the bumps and jerks on the slide did Nitori no favors, but when they reached the end of the slide and washed up the “shore”, they had a laugh about how much Nitori squeaked with each bump and turn.

It was getting around to the late afternoon and the park would be closing in about two hours. Still, they couldn’t help but feel puckish. Nitori went for a salad while Momotarou ordered a thick burger. It was expensive, but it was either starve and drown or enjoy the rides on a full stomach.

“Do you think everyone else is having fun at whatever park they went to?” Nitori asked.

“You bet! It’d be dumb if they weren’t! Not mention a waste of money!” Momotarou replied through his chews. “Hey, after this we should hit up Slush Gusher. The line’s gonna get long, but it won’t matter then since we’ll be in the river.”

“Then we should hurry up and eat.”

The two boys finished up their food and made their way to the top of Mount Gushmore again to get up to the Slush Gusher. The line wasn’t that long since people were starting to leave because of the time. Nitori then realized that he had agreed to go on it without thinking about what kind of ride it was. A freefalling, ninety-foot-tall slide; and Momotarou would not be accompanying him.

“Momo-kun, you go first,” he said, extremely terrified.

“Still scared?” Momotarou laughed. As he prepared to go down when his turn arrived, he crossed his legs and plugged his nose. The lifeguard pushed him down and in seconds, he was nothing but a speck at the bottom of the mountain. The sound of his splash was barely audible.

“Are you ready, sir?” the lifeguard asked. She held out an inviting hand but her smile looked like it was of the devil, asking for the ducky soul.

“S-Sure…” Nitori fearfully said.

He assumed the same position as Momotarou had but closed his eyes as well. He felt the lifeguard push him and soon afterwards he felt like he was flying in the clouds with his duck brethren free as can be. He felt almost as free as Haruka until he came to screeching halt at the end with his swim trunks pulled up into him. It wasn’t as painful as whatever water had splashed into his nose.

“How was it? How was it?” Momotarou excitedly asked him.

“Never…again…” Nitori replied. His eyes reflected those of a dead person. “Let’s just go to the river.”

So the rest of the day at Disney’s Blizzard Beach was spent in the chilly lazy river that was the Cross Country Creek. Occasionally the air and water had reached rather cold temperatures, but Momotarou and Nitori managed to salvage a two-person tube.

“It’s kind of a shame that this place isn’t open for the whole day,” Momotarou sighed. “But I guess I can’t complain. We got to go on all the rides.”

“Well we didn’t go into the kids’ area,” Nitori mentioned.

“That’s because we’re grown men! Not children!”

“I feel like Matsuoka-senpai would beg to differ.”

“It was fun, though, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re not as terrifying as you look!”

“Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?”

“Anyway, once we go around for the lap, we should probably get our stuff and wait for the bus.”

“You’re not going to change?”

“We’re staying at one of the resorts.”

“Ah, good point.”

The water from the attractions was starting to make their eyes feel heavy, and once they had completed a relaxing lap around the river, they went to the lockers to retrieve their items and buy a couple of small souvenirs before heading to the bus stop. They put their shirts back on and wrapped their towels around their lower halves so they wouldn’t wet the seat on the bus; it was more than likely that the driver would get angry if they didn’t. As they rode back, they willed themselves to stay awake.

“We’re back!” Momotarou said when he entered the room at Samezuka’s team had paid for. Rin and Sousuke greeted them while watching television and eating snacks. Once Momotarou and Nitori were showered and cleaned, they would tell them about the day before heading to bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I drew a fanart to go with this, but unfortunately, I don't think I can embed from Facebook.


End file.
